Fuel cell component company Bac2 has secured £500,000 of seed corn investment funding, enabling it to further develop ElectroPhen, the, unique bulk-available, polymer material that conducts electricity.
Already in use in London buses and Japanese homes, fuel cells provide efficient energy without damaging emissions. By combining hydrogen with oxygen (air) the fuel cells generate electricity and heat, with the only waste product being clean water. Heavily backed by major governments, the fuel cell dominated hydrogen economy looks set to provide the key answer to the concerns over the future supply of oil and gas, and the environmental problems of fossil fuels.
Asked about the long term future for the business, CEO Mike Stannard commented “The application of fuel cells within every day products, from MP3 players to lawn mowers as well as cars and computers, is increasing all the time. Our aim is to get ElectroPhen components into as many of those products as we can, in turn rewarding our visionary investors.”
Jason Ball of London Seed Capital commented “’Clean technology’ is one of the areas where venture investors can make a real impact. We’re delighted to be involved with the development and roll out of Bac2’s fuel cell technology. We believe the company’s technology will be key enabler to the mass commercialisation of fuel cells.”
The mass adoption of fuel cells is currently limited by the cost of key components, such as the electrically conductive bipolar plates which make up a large proportion of a fuel cell stack. Bac2’s patent pending ElectroPhen material is ideally suited to easier and lower cost production of conductive composite bipolar plates than existing composite plates made from non-electrically conducting polymers.
The investment round was lead by London Seed Capital in conjunction with the London Business Angel Network and the newly raised LBA EIS Tracker Fund III. Further angel investors were introduced to Bac2 by South East Capital Alliance (SECA), managed by Finance South East, Wessex Ventures, James Cowper Chartered Accountants and the University of Southampton Alumni Fund.
This investment money is in addition to DTI grant funding of £240,000 awarded to a six member consortium, lead by Bac2, to optimise its ElectroPhen material for use in fuel cell components.
Bac2 is a member of the SETsquared Business Acceleration Centre at the University of Southampton. SETsquared supports companies with business mentoring from experienced entrepreneurs, professional services and low-cost office space.
Bac2 is the developer of ElectroPhenTM, an electrically conductive plastic. The company is now in the process of exploiting the material commercially with patents pending in Europe, America and Japan. Bac2 is using ElectroPhenTM to make bipolar plates, key components in fuel cells. Already in commercial use as auxiliary generators, fuel cells are widely expected to power everything from cars and buses to laptops and mobile phones and even homes and offices in the years to come. They provide clean efficient energy as part of the emerging hydrogen economy, which is seen as the most viable energy technology for tackling increasingly serious concerns over oil and gas supply as well as harmful climate changing emissions caused by burning hydrocarbon fuels.
The widespread adoption of fuel cells is currently limited by the cost of key components such as bipolar plates, which separate the individual reaction cells where hydrogen and oxygen (air) are combined forming electricity and water as the emission product. The bipolar plates have to conduct electricity, keep the reaction gasses separated and channel away the waste water and heat from the reaction. Bac2 anticipates that ElectroPhenTM will help the push for Fuel Cell cost reduction as it is made from readily available low-cost constituents, can be pressed or moulded to complex shapes, and is robust enough for harsh environments. By comparison, competitors use composite plates using conductive particles such as graphite, bound together with electrically insulating resins (apart from ElectroPhenTM, all bulk available resins are electrically insulating). It is expected that Bac2 will have a wide range of applications in the electrical and electronic industries.
Bac2 is a privately owned company based in Southampton, United Kingdom.
For further information contact:
Mike Stannard, CEO
Bac2
Tel: +44 (0) 23 8059 8572
E-mail: mike@bac2.co.uk
